A Stranger to Mars
by AthenaMay24
Summary: Key points in the movie told from Dejah's point of view, will eventually continue on to be a post-movie story.
1. Dotar Sojat

**A/N Hi, John Carter fans! First off, I want to apologize for the state of my previous John Carter fanfiction, John Carter and His Princess. It was just terrible. I realized that a while ago, but haven't gotten around to doing anything about it. Until now.**

 **This came about because I watched the movie again and couldn't help noticing again the loaded looks that Dejah gives John in the movies (specifically the ones involving the wedding rings). I was originally going to write a one-shot about those moments, but then I got carried away and started writing for this scene too. So this is the scene titled 'Dotar Sojat' told from Dejah's point of view and what I think she was thinking during these times. The only regret I have about this scene in the movie is that in the book they'd both already realized they loved each other and you had that brilliant moment when John calls Dejah his 'princess' and she gets mad and offended. Anyway, here's the first chapter. There will eventually be ones about the wedding ring looks, I promise. Please leave a review, if you can!**

"No. I don't fight for anyone." Virginia's ornamental trappings thudded to the ground.

Dejah, from her spot in Sola's grip, locked eyes with the strange white man. Maybe he wasn't just a Thark's lackey. Maybe he _would_ fight for Helium.

"Virginia," Tars Tarkas advanced on him. "Reject this honor," Tars's hand landed heavily on Virginia's shoulder as he glanced towards Dejah, "And I cannot guarantee the safety of your red girl."

Even though he spoke softly, the Thark Jeddak's words carried to Dejah, who did not react, even though her life lay in the balance. The look Virginia was guarded and regretful.

Finally, he proclaimed slowly, "I am Dotar Sojat."

Dejah studied his face. He was sad, so sad, about something. Obviously, if it wasn't for the threat to her, he would not have agreed to become a living weapon. She wasn't quite sure why a stranger was so willing to save her. It wasn't quite the way of Barsoom.

~o0o~

"War is a shameful thing." That, too, wasn't the way of Barsoom. Dejah wiped her face, trying to hide her tears for her fallen friends.

"Not when a noble cause is taken up by those who can make a difference." Dejah turned to him. "You made a difference today, Virginia."

He looked exasperated, "Okay, see, my name is John Carter. Virginia is where I'm from."

Dejah took this information in without hesitation. What he was called was not important. "Where did you lean to jump that way?"

"I don't know. How'd you learn to fly?"

That, however, threw her off. "Your ships do not sail on light in Virginia?"

John smiled slightly, which Dejah found inexplicably endearing.

"No, Professor. See, our ships sail the seas." Dejah didn't speak, moving a little farther away from him. "Endless water everywhere?" John elaborated, speaking to her as if she did not know what a sea was.

Dejah ignored that for the time being, bringing her gaze to his well-muscled chest. She walked around him, muttering to herself, "Skeletal structure: normal."

"What are you doing?" John spun halfway around.

"Must be the density of your bones," Dejah decided. She smacked his butt, ordering, "Jump for me!"

"Enough!" Sola's voice cut through, preventing John from responding to Dejah's actions. "There will be time for playfulness later!"

Dejah waved Sola off, "I want no playfulness from him!" In the back of her mind, she realized that the Thark thought of her as John Carter's property, which could prove to be a very bad situation in the future. But she also realized that John wasn't the type of man to take advantage of it.

"I want his help," she continued, words addressed to Sola, but directed at John. "Explain to me how you do it. If it's a skill, teach it to Helium! Name your price."

John took a step toward her, "I'm not for hire." Dejah felt all her sudden hopes sink. "I've a cave of my own. Somewhere." John started to walk away.

"Only a madman would rave about the time of oceans," Dejah called to keep him from leaving. It worked, because he turned.

"Is that your expert view?" John asked scornfully. "I'm mad?"

"Or a liar," Dejah added cooly.

"She is a good match for you, Dotar Sojat," Sola once again interrupted.

John held up a hand. "Don't call me that," he told her, but he kept his grey eyes on Dejah.

"There are no seas on the planet," Dejah said, in order to keep from addressing the possible compatibility between herself and a man that claimed to be an alien.

John looked at her as if he was wrestling with something, "When you say 'planet'?"

~o0o~

"Sun," Dejah pointed with a stick at the hastily drawn diagram. "Then Rasoom."

"Mercury," John corrected.

"Then Cosoom," Dejah ignored his incorrect astronomy.

John looked at her like she was crazy, "Venus." He knocked her stick out of the way, "Then Earth. Us."

What was he talking about? "That is Jasoom," she tried not to sound like she was talking to an idiot, but she didn't succeed. "You are on Barsoom, John Carter," she said, tapping the correct rock.

"Mars?" John stood. "I'm on Mars?" he muttered. Dejah looked up at him as he gazed at the sky as if he was seeing Thuros and Cluria for the first time. She stood slowly and followed his gaze. "Good God. I'm on Mars."

"So your home is Jasoom? And you came on one of your sailing ships across millions of karads of empty space?" Dejah asked scornfully, waving a hand out the stars.

"No," John said vehemently. "Not like that."

"Go on. Shock me. How?"

"That," John pointed directly as Tars Tarkas and Dejah couldn't help but notice John's hand on the small of her back. "Brought me here," Dejah stepped forward, partly to get a better look at Tars's ornament and partly to remove John's hand from her body. She looked at John and back at the medallion, a plan forming.

"Oh, well that explains everything then."

John looked confused. "It does?"

"Yes! You're a thern," Dejah explained with feeling. "And you simply wish to return to your rightful place. Isn't that it?" She asked, giving him a pointed look.

"Yes," he responded, not sounding like he had a clue what she meant.

"Then let's sort this out right now. Come along!" Dejah headed purposefully to where she expected the Thark's temple was, John a step behind her and Sola and Woola trailing.

"Where are you going?" Sola demanded.

"To your temple," Dejah said with a confidence she didn't quite feel.

"No. No, you cannot enter here!" Sola pleaded, "It's forbidden! You are not Thark." Woola barked, capturing Sola's attention briefly, allowing Dejah and John to get farther ahead. "Woola, stay."

Dejah somehow managed to stroll into the Thark's temple as if she owned the place and knew exactly what she was doing. What she did know was that they'd probably be killed if they were caught in there. She spun around to face John as he gazed wonderingly at the temple.

"Dotar Sojat, it is forbidden," Sola whispered fervently. "It's forbidden!"

"Well. You speak for the goddess. What does she say?" Dejah asked John, knowing full well he had no idea.

"You called me a thern. Is that what she is?" he asked, ignoring her question.

"No! She is Issus. Therns are holy messengers of the goddess. In the time of oceans they walked among us, guiding us. We must not offend. Let us go!" Sola explained entreatingly.

Dejah watched John to see if he was buying it, but he was too busy studying the carvings. "There's some kind of writing up there," he said.

Taking a small breath, John scooped her up suddenly and leaped for the wall. A scream escaped her lips as they flew through the air, but she cried out in pain when they hit the wall. She could tell that John tried his hardest to cushion the landing for her so she wasn't slammed too hard, but his groan told her that that effort was at his own expense. She'd barely had time to react, but now she was acutely aware of the fact that she was in John's arms, pressed between him and a wall.

John put her down as Sola dropped to her knees, praying for their blasphemy. He took the torch from Dejah as she tried to right herself. Enthralled in the carvings, she tried to move farther away from him, but he moved with her.

"Can you read it?" He stood directly behind her, his breath ruffling her hair.

"It's old scripture. I-I"

"There it is again," John interrupted, "What's it mean?"

"Don't rush me," Dejah took the torch back. "Let those who seek the solace of eternity . . . may journey down the river through the sacred gates of Iss . . . and find everlasting peace in the bosom of Issus," she read.

"The gates of Iss," John repeated. Dejah turned her head to the side as John stepped much closer to her. Her plan evolved.

"What if I could take you there?"

John moved so that his nose brushed her hair, "What if I didn't trust you?" His body was near enough to hers that she felt it, even though they weren't touching. He snatched the torch back.

"Then we'd be even," Dejah countered, praying he went along with it. "I can take you to the gates. To the answers you seek. A way back to Jasoom."

"Earth," John corrected.

"Earth," she amended, annoyed. "It's the least I can do to repay you for getting us out of here," Dejah challenged, knowing that few men can ignore a challenge laid by a beautiful woman. She spun around to face him. "Assuming that you can."

John raised an eyebrow, which told Dejah that he either saw through her or he accepted the challenge. "Deal," he stuck out a hand toward her.

She leaned backwards against the wall, looking balefully at his hand. John smiled that small smile again, the one that told Dejah that he was amused by her, the one that made her want to smile back.

"Go on. You shake it. It's a sign of trust." Dejah grabbed his thumb and shook his hand all around, making his smile grow. "Good enough." John leaned forward to touch the wall behind Dejah's shoulder, sending her back against the wall again. "Now, all we need to do is get the medallion from Tars Tarkas."

"Dotar Sojat?"

Dejah jumped away from John. Sarkoja stood with a radium gun pressed against Sola's head. "Useless she-calot!" Other Tharks had guns pointed at John and Dejah.

"I told you," Sola said, "It's forbidden."

 **A/N What do you think? I know it's only a scene from the movie with nothing else, but I had fun adding thoughts and motivations to Dejah. I have original stuff planned for the end, if people like this. Please leave a review!**


	2. The River Iss and The Key to Jasoom

**A/N Here's chapter two, even though I don't think anyone is reading this, not that I expected many views, but still. This is the next scene 'The River Iss' and 'The Key to Jasoom'.**

He kept making her smile. When they were stopped by the pool of water, and she caught him watching her, and he looked away like he was embarrassed but looked right back again, it made her smile. When they hid from the flier, and he'd looked so perplexed, and she'd tried to be scornful and skeptical, but he'd looked straight into her eyes and threw her words back at him, it had made her smile.

A large part of her felt bad for deceiving him. A part of her knew to expect it when he grabbed the reins out of her hand and demanded, "What do you think I'd do when I saw your city and not some river?" But it still caught her off guard.

"What do you mean?" Dejah stalled, grabbing for the reins.

"Cluros and Thuria," Sola gestured, "They should be at our backs by now. You lead us toward Helium!"

Dejah gave up her façade, throwing back the reins and looking away. "Once we reach there, you would see for yourself the virtue of our cause."

John sighed and dropped her reins, "Everyone thinks their cause is virtuous, Professor."

"What are you doing?" Dejah exclaimed, half-panicked as John threw her supplies off her thoat. She fell to the ground, her thoat scampering away. "No! John Carter!" Dejah hollered after him. "You can't!" He did not appear like her was going to budge.

"I like this plan better," Sola said, which annoyed Dejah, but she figured she deserved it.

"Just wait. She'll come around."

"You mad fool!" Dejah ran forward a few steps, "You're not from Earth! There are no therns!" She tried to throw those words at him like insults, but it didn't quite come out that way. "I only told you what you wanted to hear so you'd get us out. Stop! I can't! I cannot marry him!" Dejah stopped.

At least John turned his thoat halfway around and asked calmly, "Can't marry who?"

Dejah took a deep breath, "The Zodangan Jeddak you fought, Sab Than. He offered a truce to my father in exchange for my hand."

"Your father?"

"Tordos Mors."

"The Jeddak of Helium. She is a princess!" Sola exclaimed.

"A princess of mars." To most that might command some respect, but it seemed to make her worth less in John's eyes. "How about that. A princess who didn't want to get married, so she ran away."

"No," Dejah interjected softly.

"That all there is to this story?" John started his thoat forward again.

"No," Dejah said again, louder. "I didn't run away. I escaped."

"From what? His breath? So marry the guy and save your people," Dejah was kind of hurt by John's tone.

"A life of oppression, that's not living!" Dejah let out a cry as she stumbled. She'd almost been even with John.

John leapt to her side without hesitation, perhaps betraying his bluff. He tried to grab her arm, but she pulled it away.

"If you had the means to save others, would you not take any action possible to make it so?" Dejah asked him softly.

"No good will come out of me fighting your war," John told her, and Dejah got the feeling he'd fought another war and lost more than the victory in the process.

Dejah tried to hold back tears, "I would lay down my life for Helium." She looked up at John, taking a ragged breath, "Yes, I ran away. I was afraid—weak. Maybe I should have married. But I somehow feared that it would somehow be the end of Barsoom. I tell you truly John Carter of Earth. There are no gates of Iss. They are not real."

"I'm sorry, Princess, but this," John held out the medallion, "This is real." He stood and offered her a hand. Dejah, after no deliberation, took his hand.

~o0o~

"Professor."

Dejah followed John's gaze to the enormous irregular structure before them. Sola began praying as Dejah jumped to her feet. "Impossible," she said, "I've never seen this kind of structure before," Dejah elaborated as they passed into its shadow.

"I want to get a better look," was the only warning Dejah got as John grabbed her and leapt up to the top of the strange thing. He apparently had no qualms about manhandling her whenever he wished. Dejah tried not to think about how strong his arms felt around her. It took John a minute to put her down.

Before Dejah could come up with a properly indignant response, the ground reacted to John. "Carter, your feet!" They advanced together slowly.

"This is not the work of gods," Dejah said after getting a good look at the walls. She was relieved to be able to explain it without using ancient mythologies. "These are machines," she noticed and imprint on the floor. "Your medallion?" He handed it over.

Dejah got so excited when she realized her research was all true, that the ninth ray existed, but that led to a realization that she only half wanted to be true, "The therns. They must be real. And you," she turned to face John, "are John Carter of _Earth_?"

John nodded, smiling a little, "Yes, ma'am."

Dejah looked at him as if seeing him for the first time, "And the ships that sail on the sea? You've seen them?" John nodded. "That must be a beautiful sight."

"It truly is," John took a step toward her, but his foot activated the room around them, distracting them both.

"It's our solar system," Dejah realized. John stepped firmly on Earth. A line appeared with writing connecting Earth to Barsoom. They locked eyes for a moment before practically falling onto the floor beside the diagram.

"What's it say?"

"I'm not sure."

"Okay, what do you think it says?"

"It appears to be a kind of technical diagram. Here is Barsoom, there is Jasoom. This glyph here, it's like our symbol for a transcription—a copy—set along these lines here. Between the worlds. Like—" Dejah struggled to come up with an example.

"The telegraph," John provided. Dejah wasn't sure what that was, but it made since to John, "You're saying I was telegraphed here? I'm a copy of myself?" John looked down at himself.

"Possibly. Making these words here the command for travel," Dejah looked at the symbols. She could read them, but in that second she made a decision to deceive John once again. She told herself it was for Helium, but if was also because she did not want him to go. "I do not like guessing. I need more information. I need charts, codices."

"Right," John didn't appear to be buying it. "And where might we find those?"

"In the hall of science," Dejah said carefully.

"And where's that?"

"Helium," Dejah turned her face away from him as the word escaped her lips.

John grabbed her arm. "Then, quick, let's just head on back and turn on back to Helium," he yanked her to her feet. "What do you take me for?"

"I take you for a man who's lost."

"I won't be lost if you just tell me how to work this thing," John tried to pull her back to the diagram, but she yanked her arm away.

"I will! But everything I need to understand that medallion is in Helium. I'm trying to get you back to your cave of gold. Isn't that what you want?"

"Yes," John said, but he sounded unconvinced.

Dejah realized something then. Something about herself and about John. She realized that she loved him, and she realized a flicker of something like love was in his eyes too. "No," she said softly, "I don't believe you. We may have been born worlds apart, but I know you, John Carter. From the moment you caught me in the sky, I knew. I felt the heart of a man willing to lay down his life for others. A man willing to fight for a cause. Here, on Barsoom." Dejah had moved unconsciously toward John, and now she rested a hand on his chest.

John leaned forward and kissed her, surprising her, but surprising her even more when he pushed her away. He turned around so his back was to her, like he was wresting with something. She saw him look down at the rings on his finger and realized another something it wasn't just a cave of gold he'd left behind on Earth.

"Don't you see, Carter?" Dejah put a hand lightly on his shoulder coming around to face him. "I fled to find another way," she cupped her hand around his cheek, "You are the other way," she whispered, meaning more than the other way to save Helium.

Gunfire outside drew them both, leaving Dejah little time to reflect on all that had come light. She practically jumped into John's arms for him to leap back down to the boat.

"Dotar Sojat!" Sola somehow managed to sound like an annoyed mother, even at a time like this.

Dejah knew as she looked back on the approaching Warhoons that there was no way they'd outrun them. The way John looked down at her hand over his, she knew that he knew it too. He pulled the thoat to a stop.

"Dotar Sojat?" Sola spun her own thoat around as John leaped off the saddle.

"What are you doing?" Dejah demanded.

"Sola, get her out of here," John ordered, ignoring Dejah.

Dejah shrieked as Sola grabbed her and pulled her off her thoat. "Carter!"

John shook his head, "I was too late once. I won't be again."

In a flash Dejah realized what must have happnened to the previous owner of one of those rings. "No!" Dejah screamed over and over. If John Carter was going to die for her, she wanted to be right beside him. But Sola wouldn't let her go, so all she could do was watch over the Thark woman's shoulder as the Warhoons descended on John.

~o0o~

Dejah's thought John was going to die, and she realized that she had no right to keep him from his home. Not one time had John said he wanted to stay, or that he had any feelings for her, barring that kiss that they both pretended never happened. So she called for Kantos as soon as Sab Than settled her in apartments.

She could feel John's eyes raking her body as she stood there in that ridiculous dress. To regain some of her dignity, she said, "You are expected to bow in my presence, Captain Carter." It amused her that Kantos had to reiterate that order before John would do it. "I suppose that will do," she said after John gave the shoddiest bow she'd ever seen.

Kantos stepped forward in the typical arm salute, "I fetched him, as you ordered."

"Thank you, Kantos," Dejah turned to her entourage of silly witless women, "I wish to speak to Captain Carter alone. Keep watch outside," she added to Kantos. She wasn't sure she was prepared to be alone with John, so when he locked eyes with her, she turned away to watch them leave. After the door shut, she spun back around.

"You look beautiful," was the first thing John said, which threw her off.

"It's traditional Zodangan. Worn by the groom's mother, I'm told. It's a little vulgar for my taste, but my opinions are about to become irrelevant."

"You can't seriously be considering this," John said, which made her mad, because he was the one who'd mocked her for running in the first place.

"What other choice to I have?" Dejah asked him.

"Don't marry him."

"Give me a reason not to!" Dejah took a step forward. John looked like he was about to say something, so she pressed on, "Will you stay and fight for Helium?" John glanced away. Dejah moved so close that he had to look at her. "Will you stay, and fight for Helium?" she repeated.

John looked down at the rings on his finger. Dejah followed his gaze, and he moved his hand out of view. She knew what that meant. He'd left a life behind that he needed to get back to. "Dejah," he started, but she spun away, holding back tears.

"We have a saying on Barsoom. A warrior can change his metal, but not his heart," John didn't love her, his heart was still with his dead wife. "You were right," Dejah confessed, composing herself and facing him again. "I could decipher the command," she admitted, pulling out the medallion. "It's a set of words, a simple phrase. Repeat after me. Ak Ohum Oktay—"

Someone banged on the door, demanding to be let in.

"Say it now. Ak Ohum Oktay," Dejah breathed a sigh when John followed her orders. Instead of saying the transport command, he seemed to be saying a million other things, apologies, regrets, explanations.

"Weez."

"Weez."

"Jasoom. Jasoom, say it. Say it! Say it!" The door flew open and she spun around.

"Dejah! Are you alone?" Sab Than came strutting in.

She turned. John was gone. "Yes. I am alone," she whispered. She wasn't sure how she managed to stride out of her room like nothing was wrong.


	3. Change of Heart

**A/N Thank you, thank you, thank you to Jeff Fouberg for reviewing! I appreciate it so much! I hope you enjoy this chapter! This is the battle and the scene after the wedding. I thought about adding some stuff in here about what Dejah was thinking/doing before the wedding to Sab Than, but I decided that I wanted to stick to the movie for this chapter and possible do a flashback in the next one. This chapter is really short, but really the whole purpose of this fic is to get to him coming back, so I kinda want to move along (because I've been feeling like nobody likes this because it's just what happened in the movie).**

Ch. 3 Change of Heart

"Carter," Dejah wasn't even sure she was actually speaking. John had just saved her. No matter what was about to happen, seeing him cemented in her mind that she was _not_ about to marry Sab Than. John had come back.

"It's a trap!" John's urgent tone, knocked the smile off her face, "Zodanga's at your walls!"

Dejah knew she should have known better than to trust—

She let out a cry as Sab Than yanked her towards him by her hair. She heard John call her name, but she was having a hard time thinking through the pain of being lifted up to the ceiling by Sab, who flew—flew?—up to twist around the ceremonial mirror. Dejah reached up, trying to hold onto Sab's arm to keep her weight off her hair with one hand, and slipped a dagger out of its hiding place with the other. She felt some of Sab's blood spatter her hair when she stabbed him, but she was too preoccupied with the fact that now she was falling—and screaming—and maybe stabbing him wasn't the best—

But somehow she knew she'd land neatly in John's arms and touch lightly down. "If you'll just get behind me, sir," Dejah scooped up a sword, neatly taking care of a Zodangan and smiling, despite the situation, because John was back and she wasn't alone.

After the arrival of the Tharks, complete with Sola's exuberant, "It is good to fly!" Dejah had just fought off a couple of Zodangans on the balcony level, when she noticed John and Sab Than in the middle of the floor, and a weird blue substance that was . . . killing Sab and about to kill John and was coming from . . . Tars Tarkas?

But, of course, it wasn't Tars, it was Matai Shang. Dejah hacked at his arm controller, barely registering that the blue stuff pooffed off of John, and leveled her sword at him. Matai Shang shrank, briefly flashing as himself before becoming the spitting image of Dejah herself and lunging at her like a cat.

John jumped up to her on the balcony just in time for Matai-Dejah to put a sword to her neck and hold her hostage.

"A fitting solution for your setback, wouldn't you say, Captain?" Matai-Dejah smiled. But the real Dejah's eyes never left John's. She wasn't sure she'd get the look on his face out of her head any time soon. "Dejah Thoris escapes her wedding assassins but fails to prove her misguided theory of the ninth ray. Oh yes," Dejah could feel Matai-Dejah's breath on her cheek, "I'll enjoy playing that out."

Dejah pushed on the hilt of Matai-Dejah's sword and snatched at the medallion around his neck, tossing it to John. "Carter!"

John fumbled when he caught it, but recovered enough to throw it clear across the celestial hall before Matai-Dejah could stop him. But that didn't stop Matai-Dejah from shoving Dejah off the edge of the balcony.

She screamed as she fell and as John caught her. Again. Apparently being caught midair was a new constant in her life.

John took a second to let go of her this time, but Dejah knew they didn't have time for that, so she pointed, "I'm getting away," before John could ask her if she was alright.

The fighting was soon over, and Dejah knew she should have been paying attention to the Zodangan surrender, but all she could do was catch John's eye and smile.

"A jeddak," Dejah ran her fingers along the symbol of John's new status. "I see you have changed your metal."

John covered her hand with his, "And my heart." To her utter surprise, he pulled the rings off of his finger. Dejah never looked away from John's face as he slipped onto one knee.

"Dejah Thoris," John took a deep breath, "Would a princess of Mars ever consider marriage to a wayward Virginia cavalryman, with nothing to offer," he looked down, as if he was realizing that he didn't have much _to_ offer, but Dejah didn't care about that, and she didn't let him finish.

"Yes." John looked up sharply. "Yes, John Carter. Yes!" Dejah smiled. She wasn't quite sure what had happened since she'd met John, but there was no doubt that she loved him. And that was all that mattered.

~o0o~

Dejah woke up alone. She reached over. His side of the bed was still warm. "John?" She sat up, pulling the sheets around herself.

John didn't really react as Dejah came up behind him, until she was right beside him, and he turned, smiled, and returned his gaze back to the heavens.

"Homesick for the Thark nursery?" Dejah teased, smiling.

He looked at her again, "I'm sorry. Couldn't sleep." Dejah felt the smile on her face start to disappear. "I got that feeling you get suddenly, that you left a light burning, or a door open."

It wasn't the Tharks that John was missing. He was missing Earth, and no matter how much Dejah loved him, or even how much he loved her, Earth was something she could never really give him. He had family there, a nephew named Ned. He'd mentioned Ned once when they were camped on the ochre moss of the dry ocean floor. And, of course, there was the family he'd had—and lost—there too.

John sighed, seeming to put those thoughts behind him. "Go back to bed," he caressed her cheek, and she brought her hand up automatically to cover his. "I won't be long."

Dejah kissed the palm of his hand. "Be back in one xat, John Carter of Earth." She played lightly with his fingers, and then she walked away, leaving him to his thoughts.


End file.
